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Sunday, September 15, 2013

Bowling Philosophy-September 2013

Pete Weber, Photo by Storm Products.

"Intellectual Property"By Thomas Scherrer
If you're an ardent fan of the sport of bowling, I strongly recommend reading Jeff Richgels' blog for personal consumption with this disclaimer from me: Jeff Richgels is a superior writer compared to me when it comes to bowling. Forget the bowling comparisons-it's a figurative wet t-shirt contest where I'm an Olsen twin and Richgels is Christina Hendricks, but trust me, Richgels knows the inner and outer workings of the sport. Some of it is an acquisition of years of bowling, cultivating friendships, and pure logic. The bowling hotbed that is Wisconsin gives its top players a greater stance regarding bowling issues both locally and regionally, as well as national issues regarding the PBA and the USBC. They speak, you best listen first, then formulate either a supportive narrative or a critique.

Imagine this for a moment: imagine Richgels supporting a stance of an iconic player's take regarding the recent turnouts of what we can term a dual regional in Council Bluffs, Iowa. This dual regional consisted of a PBA Regional event and a PBA50 Regional, with a special Baker tournament for the qualifiers. Imagine if a well-respected bowler and sponsor decided to drum up the dual regional by adding money to the prize fund, because, after all, if you know bowling and especially bowlers, they openly gripe about how bowling tournaments are not profitable. Now imagine that for the standard regional event, there were 28 bowlers and for the senior event there were 38 entrants, with a combined 48 PBA members attending. Imagine that??? Forty-eight??? Is that bad??? It's not good!!! Factor all this in, could you even imagine a scenario where there was a competing team tournament in the Midwest region occurring the same weekend, therefore taking away some PBA members? Imagine that iconic player's stance? Would it be dismissive of fellow members or of the competing tournament to run up against the Professional Bowlers Association? Would it be both? Would it be a diatribe with the CAPS LOCK on?

Imagine no longer because it did happen and Pete Weber offered the retort (you can guess which stance he took, right?). Without repeating everything on Richgels' blog so you can, you know, read some of his stuff and bow to his remarkable bowling career, let's get to some key points Weber was making on his Facebook page. Weber was "disappointed by YOU" (PBA members) and staked that PBA members "1st PRIORITY should be to the PBA. If you are not going to support the PBA, then why are you members? Is it to be a part of something great? Or is it just to say you have a PBA card? Who do you think you are...? I am!!!" Okay, I made the last part up, but you got the gist of what Weber was getting at.

In Weber, you have a PBA member since he was 1979. This is truly the embodiment of the PBA. Weber has been a member for 34 years. He has given 2/3rds of his life to this organization that oversees the elite bowling talent in the world. Weber has earned just under $3.7 million in his career, with 37 titles and has a share of the modern PBA record for majors with 10. He has gone through all the changes bowling has had to offer, from lane surfaces, bowling balls, formats, regimes, television and its purpose for the PBA, and lane oil becoming an intricate part of the game. He has been suspended by the PBA on several occasions for basically being an ass to himself, fans, media, and officials alike, yet never left the PBA. Maybe because there was no other place to go-after all, is not like Weber was a professional wrestler in the old territory days where if say, Weber wrote out his welcome in the old-WWWF, he could have gone to some regional outfit like Mid-South or World Class. Maybe because there was nothing else for Weber to do. He is after all, the son of the late Dick Weber-bowling was simply in his DNA, with no way of it being extracted Dom Cobb-style out of his blood. Maybe...the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but I digress.

Back to Richgels...himself a PBA member (like Weber), as well as a member of Storm Bowling (also like Weber), and a USBC Hall of Famer (again, similar to Weber) agreed with the sentiments of Weber during the end of his blog saying that "If PBA members want good tournaments with sponsors, they must support them...This is about the choices of the bowlers and it happens numerous weekends with numerous Regionals and other tournaments".

Yes, choices. That very choice most bowlers are usually placed into. What to bowl...where to bowl...lather, rinse, repeat. Allow me to play the contrarian here and argue that in today's world of bowling, if you carry a PBA card you are known as a person in support of the organization and its movement toward growing the sport of bowling...and not what you ought to be: an independent contractor working in a commission sales based sport, meaning your talent and subsequent performance is what allows you to make a living. You, the bowling individual are the one backing yourself and investing your money back into the sport to bowl, virtually free of sponsorship, backers, or bowling ball companies...well, unless you're Australian. Again, choices. Yes, being a PBA member is a badge of honor amongst many in the industry: a sign that you are willing to make the sacrifice and the dedication to supporting the sport at its highest and most visible level. While that might have been the case 20 years ago, hell, even 10 years ago...the ability to get noticed in bowling without the PBA is higher now than it has since the days of team bowling. As much as I respect both Richgels and Weber for their bowling accomplishments as PBA members, I look at them as bowlers first, PBA members second and that is why as much as Weber 's venom might be justifiable, a bowler's first priority, no matter if he or she carries a card from the PBA, is to put themselves in the best position to succeed, both short and long term.

Such as perhaps being prepared for the proliferation of a full-blown PBA League in the near future?

Which leads us to the competing tournament, rather the competing team tournament held in Springfield, Illinois. Former PBA champion Jeff Carter and Land of Lincoln Tournaments hosted the second Mary Teubner Memorial Team Tournament on the weekend of September 6th-8th (Friday-Sunday). The tournament has been a massive fundraiser for the BOWLSTRONG fund, honoring the late Teubner as Carter discussed recently on Above180.com. A closer look at the team event does feature several noticeable names such as PBA stars Tommy Jones and Bill O'Neill, as well as lesser known, yet recognizable names such as Jesse Buss, John Szcerbinski, Anthony LaCaze, and Steve Harman. Not to mention former Tournament of Champions winner George Branham III also bowling on a team finishing high in the standings. The point is that this tournament has become a big deal for pros to attend and be part of a legitimately good cause in the bowling community. This was also a tournament Weber himself participated in last year, adding further credibility to what Carter-ironically a person Weber has a good relationship, and similar to both Weber and Richgels, are Storm staff members-is attempting to accomplish. One could reasonably argue that Weber is simply defending the PBA and its events by making a candid statement about what a member of the PBA ought to do. One could also argue that Weber should keep quiet, citing his participation in last year's fundraising event as an example that he is simply picking his spot to lash out at the membership of local PBA players for not attending a PBA Regional...with added money, no less on the same weekend Carter's event-also ironically sponsored by Storm Bowling.

Weber found it disrespectful; Richgels found it strange, given the extra money...the question that should be asked from all this is why? Perhaps this simplest of answers is that in this fecundity of bowlers obtaining ball contracts that money from a sponsor is not as important as sponsorship from a bowling ball company to attract bowlers. Perhaps a further explanation is needed: if you were a quality bowler, regardless of being an amateur or PBA member, and you were without a ball contact, which tournament are you more likely to attend? The PBA Regional that has a few extra dollars tossed into its prize fund or the team tournament-perhaps a preview of what professional bowling might become-with the banner being sponsored by what many consider the preeminent bowling company in the world? Again, this comes down to what a bowler really is at the current time: an independent contractor with free will to bowl in whatever they so choose. It also stands to reason that in today's era of bowling, you are dependent not just on your talent but what brand it says on your shirt. I've been using Storm as an example, given the names involved, which is coincidental, but this goes for the other major bowling ball companies-Ebonite and Brunswick to name the more prominent companies.

A few days ago while this was all going down, I was being texted by my friend Eric Frost regarding bowling balls and why Storm is the best ball company in the sport and ostensibly, why the others are running behind? Frosty got into the whole symmetrical/asymmetrical core debate saying due to measures that were implemented 20 years ago with symmetrical cores and being accurate, that drilling an asymmetrical core with symmetrical measures makes the degree of difficulty as to making it work right is extremely difficult. All valid and cogent, but that premise works for lesser bowlers. Elite, tournament players are usually consulting ball drillers who are held in the highest esteem with in the industry. Let's use logic (and defy brand names) for a moment and say that if Matt O'Grady was looking into a layout for a specific ball and had both Lee Sandt and Mo Pinel at his disposal; he'll certainly consult Sandt, but he'd be foolish if he didn't consult Pinel. So, if any top tier player has a new piece in their hands and it was asymmetrical, they will find a trustworthy suggestion on layouts. Your local league bowler probably will have a harder time.

As I listened to Frosty's take, I simply asked him that if he felt with the absurdity of many people obtaining ball contracts that it might actually hurt the sport, with my argument being that instead of the bowlers being the main draw it is actually the bowling ball companies that are truly the stars of bowling. When he responded, he countered that without them, there would be no bowling from a competitive standpoint. He based it off of product registration/exclusion and the simple branding of major events, such as the recent USBC Queens presented by Storm for example. As a simple matter of fact, he's completely right...and that is completely sad.

And that is one of the many reasons the sport of bowling is searching for answers as to how to reclaim some of its lost luster. Instead of it being about the talent, it is about how fast the talent can get to the truck to remain relevant-this despite being the very best at what they do. Sadly, Mr. Baer's attempt to sponsor a PBA Regional tournament is a friendly reminder that we live in a far more corporate and global society. After all, the New England Bowlers Association (NEBA) had to scramble for another bowling ball company to be a sponsor for their tournaments this season, after Ebonite International withdrew their sponsorship from only, you know, the longest monthly scratch bowling tournament in the United States. Even Ebonite looked at NEBA's half-century run of bowling and pulled out because they didn't deem it profitable anymore. Period (Brunswick and its sister companies, DV8 and Radical eventually signed on for the current season). And that is the issue at stake: profitability. Storm saw profitability, exposure, and-malevolent or not-a sense of duty to help sponsor one of its own in Jeff Carter and the Mary Teubner Memorial Team Tournament. The PBA simply hosted a competing regional with some extra cash added to it. Isolation, apathy, and desperation.

In closing, Richgels left his readers pondering this thought during the recap on the Council Bluffs bunch regional event: "it's a shame-and hard to understand-how a tournament can put up $13,000 in sponsorship money for a weekend of competition and not draw a big field". He went on to finish that blog by saying hopefully the ban restricting what type of bowling shoes can be worn during PBA Regional and PBA50 events would help bolster entries. You might be wondering what shoes the PBA were allowing only for their events. The obvious first brand was Dexter; the other was made by Dexter, yet are branded by another name: Storm. Or, "The Bowler's Company".

Hard to understand for a Hall of Fame bowler? Imagine what the common bowler must think.